PlayOn: the perfect data-saving film-streaming service

25th June 2018

Introducing PlayOn, a digital recording service (DVR) that saves you plenty with off-peak downloading of your favourite films and shows so you can watch anytime of the day.

One of the questions we get asked the most is: what’s the point of unlimited internet data when I’m tucked up in bed? Isn’t it only insomniacs and teenagers who spend the witching hours watching horror films on Netflix or Snapchatting under the duvet? Well, yes, to be honest. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use the dark time for your own purposes.

And that is where PlayOn comes in. If you haven’t heard of it and you love living through this golden age of box sets and blockbuster films, then prepare to say hello to being spoilt for choice – and all without making a dent in your peak data allowance. And when an hour’s worth of Netflix watching can eat up 1.5GB of your precious peak data then we think reading on will be worth your while.

Simply put, PlayOn lets you schedule the recording and downloading of all the video and TV content you already have access to during your unmetered night time period (1am to 6am). If you can already access it, then you can record and download it off-peak with PlayOn.

So, for example, if you already have a Netflix subscription but you can’t always justify using your peak data allowance to watch the latest series of The Crown then PlayOn is the answer to all your problems. Well, not all, but who doesn’t feel better after watching three hours back-to-back of Claire Foy and Matt Smith?

You can watch or record virtually any online video with PlayOn Desktop. If it’s available online, then chances are you can use PlayOn to stream it to any device or to record it to watch offline. And, unlike traditional DVR, recording capacity isn’t capped. That means the amount of recordings you can make is only limited by the amount of storage space you have available.

Check PlayOn Desktop is right for you

Before you go ahead and buy the desktop license, it’s worth noting they also offer a cloud-based product called, you guessed it, PlayOn Cloud.

The biggest difference is that PlayOn Cloud doesn’t offer unlimited downloads, so there will always be an ongoing cost as opposed to a one-off licence fee for PlayOn Desktop. The best feature of PlayOn Cloud is that you don’t need a laptop or desktop with Windows to use it, just a phone. However, off-peak scheduling isn’t a feature yet, which means being up with the insomniacs and the teenagers to manage your downloads!